The Chinese AI lab that shook global tech markets is already back for more capital, just weeks after closing a record $7.4 billion round
DeepSeek, the Chinese AI startup that sent shockwaves through global markets earlier this year, is reportedly looking to raise at least 10 billion yuan in a follow-on funding round at a pre-money valuation of roughly $71 billion. That’s barely a month after closing its first-ever external raise.
From zero to China’s most valuable AI lab #
DeepSeek closed its inaugural external funding round in early June 2026, pulling in more than 50 billion yuan, roughly $7.4 billion. That single round valued the company somewhere between $52 billion and $59 billion post-money, instantly crowning it the most valuable AI laboratory in China.
The investor list reads like a who’s who of Chinese corporate titans. Tencent committed approximately 10 billion yuan. CATL, the world’s dominant battery maker, chipped in around 5 billion yuan. But the largest check came from founder Liang Wenfeng himself, who personally contributed about 20 billion yuan.
The funding flowed through a limited partnership he formed, granting investors zero voting rights, no direct equity stake, and a five-year lock-up period.
The follow-on: more compute, more talent, more everything #
Now, just weeks later, DeepSeek is already circling back for additional capital. The follow-on round targets at least 10 billion yuan at a pre-money valuation of approximately $71 billion, representing a significant jump from the $52-59 billion range established in June. The intended use of funds points squarely at the resource-intensive reality of frontier AI development. DeepSeek plans to expand its compute power, build out data center capacity, and aggressively recruit talent.
What this means for crypto and tech investors #
DeepSeek itself has no direct connection to crypto or blockchain. The company has deliberately avoided any involvement with decentralized technologies, maintaining a tight focus on core AI research and development.
DeepSeek’s trajectory matters for the broader narrative around AI tokens and decentralized compute networks. Projects like Render, Akash, and io.net have pitched themselves as alternatives to centralized AI infrastructure. But when the world’s fastest-growing AI lab is raising billions to build traditional data centers rather than tapping into decentralized compute marketplaces, it raises questions about the near-term demand thesis for those protocols.
DeepSeek’s rise has already demonstrated its ability to move markets. When its open-source model launched in January, Nvidia shed hundreds of billions in market cap in a single session, the largest single-day loss in US stock market history at the time. Bitcoin and crypto assets correlated with tech sentiment also felt the tremor.
The $71 billion valuation target also sets a benchmark that will inform how investors price AI-adjacent crypto projects. If a centralized, venture-backed AI lab commands that kind of premium, the valuation gap between traditional AI companies and tokenized AI protocols becomes a data point that both bulls and bears will reference.
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